Lloyd Garcia

Santo Domingo Jewelry by Lloyd Garcia

Lloyd D Garcia was born October 29, 1960, and resides at Santo Domingo Pueblo.

Santo Domingo Pueblo is one of the best known tribes of the southwest Indians, largely because of their skill in marketing, their jewelry and other crafts. The Pueblo is fifth in population of the nineteen New Mexico Pueblos, and is generally considered the most conservative in terms of customs and culture. Life in the Pueblo has altered little since the arrival of the white man, Santo Domingo people have closely guarded their ceremonies, placing great emphasis on their ancient religious structures and societies, the center of the social structure.

Santo Domingo today is the leading producer of the tiny handmade beads known as heishi. Some heishi necklaces contain over 10,000 miniscule beads and look like strands of hair. Its artists are also famous for inlaid pieces, often featuring turquoise on shell bases. Much Santo Domingo jewelry is strikingly similar to Ancestral Pueblo, or Anasazi, jewelry unearthed at Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde's--ome of it more than a thousand years old.